New Delhi: Four Indian Navy personnel, including an officer, were still missing over 42 hours after a Torpedo Recovery Vessel (TRV) sank off the coast of Visakhapatnam, killing at least one person. A full-scale Search and Rescue (SAR) operation is underway by Indian Navy to trace the four personnel who were reported missing following a mishap that occurred at about 8 P.M. on November 6.
The TRV sunk while on a "routine" mission to recover dummy torpedoes fired by the fleet's ships during a "routine" exercise, the Navy had said. At the time of the incident, there were 29 personnel on board the vessel.
One sailor, James Jacob, died in the accident and four personnel (one officer and three sailors) are still reported missing. The remaining 24 personnel were rescued. As per the latest inputs, the search is going on in an area 80 nautical miles South South-West off Visakhapatnam after taking into account the prevailing drift and currents.
A Board of Inquiry headed by a Captain is in progress to inquire into the circumstances leading to the mishap. Nine ships of the Eastern Fleet and a few aircraft, including Boeing P8I, Dorniers, Sea King 42C and Chetak helicopters, have been deployed (through day and night) to search for the missing personnel.
Although no missing personnel had been found till afternoon today, one Handycam and two life jackets (belonging to the crew of the TRV) were recovered yesterday from the search area.
